A Christmas Yuleblog

Last week I went to a local Goodwill store that is phasing out their vinyl (sad, I know). Amongst the Barry Manilow and Christian evangelist LPs was this very album you are looking at. I picked it up for the princely sum of 75 cents and chuckled all the way to the car with this one. I knew that sometime this week I was going to review this very album - downloaded from Ernie (Not Bert) again on November 26, 2006 at 8:36 PM. When Ernie posted this album, he also posted the following: "I asked everybody the other day if they wanted to request anything, and got a few responses. Some of them were good ones that I'm going to work on, some stuff that I already had in the works, at least one item that I had already shared, and a couple of things that I can't share because they are on CD. "But the very first request came from none other than my father. He wanted to hear an album that we had when I was a little kid. And you can't say no to dear old Dad, no can yo...

In addition to collecting Christmas music, I have collected nearly 1000 vintage Christmas ads over the years. Many of these include celebrities, radio, television, cigarettes, liquor, modern appliances, and the like. Last Friday and every Friday from here until I run out, I will feature an ad from my collection. I invite you to add a fun comment, witticism, clever remark, or observation in the comments section provided. Any comments deemed worthy of repeating will be included into this entry where all the world will see it. It's celebrity endorsement time! Back in 1967, the entire James Bond phenomenon had reached its peak. The production of "You Only Live Twice" was heading to Japan to film several sequences when Connery decided to announce to the world this would be his last Bond film. When he landed in Japan, this was international news. World paparazzi began to fly to Tokyo to get final pictures of Connery as Bond. Thirty extra private security guards we...

Continuing with my list of Christmas albums I've downloaded since 2006, this was left mouse clicked on November 26, 2006 at 5:20 PM from Ernie (Not Bert) . After reposting a fun Christmas album from Buddy & Bunny Burden (in which Bunny appeared on the cover and little else), Ernie read the fantastic blog of Lee Hartsfield called Music You (Possibly) Won't Hear Anyplace Else . It seems Lee posted several Christmas tracks where Bunny actually sung. So Ernie searched deep into his stacks and stacks of untracked Christmas vinyl and whaddya know? He actually had the entire album that Lee's tracks came from. Ernie's got the fastest turntable in the west and transferred the album you are looking at. Ummm... :-) There's nothing out there online (with the exception of Ernie's original post) about this album. I Googled "Halo Records Nashville" but came up empty there. Ha ha. (<--- nervous laugh) Hey! How about a niceeeee back cover ...

Over the past several weeks, I've looked at albums I received as Christmas presents last December or purchased around the same time. Starting today, I am dusting off an old, OLD list of all the Christmas albums I've downloaded over the past TWO years. This list was started in August, 2007 but was called to a stop a month later due to my hectic schedule at the time. This album was downloaded on November 26, 2006 at 4:55 PM EST from the blog of (you guessed it) Ernie (Not Bert) . Since 2006, I've probably downloaded more than 200 albums from this guy so get used to seeing his name and handiwork around here for the next several. It seems I was one of the lucky ones who got this downloaded. Or did he send it to me? I forget... In any case, Ernie discovered that this album indeed was released on CD (click here - it didn't work for me) and stopped sharing the album, FYI. The next time you're at a Super Bowl party and really want to impress people with your ...

If there's a site online that sells Christmas CDs or records, I have notifications that come in to alert me of new items for sale. Every morning, I'm alerted by eBay , GEMM , and Musicstack to many new items - some good, some bad, and some I've seen too many times (people still think those Goodyear & Firestone Christmas LPs will sell online!). So it came as a shock when two months ago, I received a notification for this very CD you're looking at from the good folks at Half.com . I used to go visit Half many years ago - even sold some VHS tapes when VHS was still in vogue over there - and made some quality purchases along the way. When eBay purchased Half.com back in 2000, they planned to integrate it into eBay and eventually close down Half.com. But eBay chose to keep it running separate primarily for the textbook market and (travesty of all travesties) Half does not accept PayPal - credit card only. Needless to say, when this showed on Half, I went diggi...

In addition to collecting Christmas music, I have collected nearly 1000 vintage Christmas ads over the years. Many of these include celebrities, radio, television, cigarettes, liquor, modern appliances, and the like. Last Friday and every Friday from here until I run out, I will feature an ad from my collection. I invite you to add a fun comment, witticism, clever remark, or observation in the comments section provided. Any comments deemed worthy of repeating will be included into this entry where all the world will see it. It's hard to believe now but cigarette advertising in America once dominated the industry. Radio and television cigarette commercials were the norm. Every magazine had ads promoting cooler, milder, smoother, and longer lasting smokes. Doctors were endorsing cigarettes as harmless while celebrities were identified with certain brands of cigarettes. For example, Jack Benny was Mr. Lucky Strike, his long time radio show sponsor. He once went on Fred Al...

Whenever I search for Christmas albums at my local thrift store (where the manager knows me by name), I always peruse the used compact discs. As iPods and MP3 players have increased in popularity, more and more CDs are finding their way into Goodwill stores, cluttering up the space formerly reserved for LPs. The manager of the store nearly pulled my arm off when I walked into the store to show me this CD. He had held it behind the counter out of sight just for little ol' me (thank you Darryl!). I own the five Bob Rivers Twisted Christmas CDs already so I sort of already owned this CD. But how many times do you come across an honest to goodness promo sampler in a thrift store? For those who may not know, radio DJ Bob Rivers is the Weird Al Yankovic of Christmas music. He began his broadcasting career in Connecticut where he was heard on WAVZ, WNHC, WCDQ, WELI, WFIF, WCCC, WWCO, and last but certainly least, WLIS. With no more stations left to conquer in Connecticut, Bob ...

Since the beginning of LPs at the end of the 1940s, there has probably been more Christmas organ albums released than any other single musical instrument. There are amazing Christmas organ albums (see Jimmy McGriff , Ethel Smith , or Earl Grant ). There are decent Christmas organ albums (see Ken Griffin , Larry Ferrari , or Eddie Layton ). There are terrible Christmas organ albums (see Hanna-Barbera or Alexander Goodrich ). From November 2005 to now, I've collected nearly 25 Christmas organ albums, easily making it the largest subgenre in my collection. So why am I adding this new organ CD to my collection? Brother, I wasn't about to miss this one from Rhoda Scott! I first heard about Scott when I reviewed Ton Rückert's 2003 & 2004 Christmas Comps back in March, 2007. Ton had used the song "Winter Wonderland" in his 2004 Christmas comp. My comment at the time was: GREAT JUMPIN' ICEBERGS! Rhoda Scott's 'Winter Wonderland' is a ...

A quick road trip over the past two years: In March 2007, I reviewed Dave Chesler's homemade Christmas comp entitled "The Christmas Cheese: Chesler's 2006 Holiday Compilation". While doing a track review, I first came across this group called Marah and their song "Christmas With The Snow": GREAT JUMPIN' ICEBERGS!!! Marah creates a wonderful, contemporary song that's very reminiscent of the Phil Spector "wall of sound" Christmas songs! If their 2005 Christmas album sounds like this, consider it added to the wish list! The next track on Dave's comp was Marah again. This was their skit entitled "Boozing It Up With Friends": Reading the Christmas Reviews review of Marah's CD, they state that several of the tracks are under a minute in length and two feature funny skits / segues like this one... Added to my wish list! During Christmas 2007, I got a $20 gift card to Amazon.com and purchased the entire Christmas CD...

What a year... the 2008 Chicago Cubs have given us many a thrill this season and have provided one amazing feat right after the other. I thought I'd never see the day when a Cub team was 30 games above .500 in September, let alone vying for their SECOND consecutive division championship! Last night, Carlos Zambrano (R in the picture above) was coming off a twelve day layoff thanks to rotator cuff tendinitis. Originally scheduled to pitch in Houston against the Astros, Hurricane Ike forced the two teams to play their games in Milwaukee - 90 miles away from Chicago. 25,000 Cub fans from Chicago and the surrounding areas made the trek north to Wrigley Field North. Zambrano threw a no-hitter against the Houston Astros, blanking them 5-0. Congrats Carlos on a masterful performance on the mound and giving Cub Nation another amazing memory in a year already full of them. My heart goes out to the Astros. Their homes and playing field were ravaged by Mother Nature and they we...

In lieu of an honest-to-goodness, full-blown Christmas CD review, I am proud to present a new feature that starts today and will repeat every Friday that I hope you'll enjoy. In addition to collecting Christmas music, I have collected nearly 1000 vintage Christmas ads over the years. Many of these include celebrities, radio, television, cigarettes, liquor, modern appliances, and the like. As with my ear for the strange and peculiar with Christmas music, I have an eye for the strange and peculiar with Christmas ads. This inaugural ad post definitely falls into this category. I invite you to add a fun comment, witticism, clever remark, or observation in the comments section provided. Any comments deemed worthy of repeating will be included into this entry where all the world will see it. The Arrow Shirt company had some of the most colorful advertisements at Christmas time. From Santa trying on long underwear to dad sporting a new shirt at Christmas, most ads were underst...

This will be a short yuleblog entry today (for me anyway) - things are piling up on me here at my house and I want to stay ahead of the game. Thankfully, our next artist has never been short on self-promotion or humility - quite endearing in my opinion. I present to you the one and only Richard Cheese ( www.richardcheese.com , thank you!). RICHARD CHEESE BIO (snagged from his website - www.richardcheese.com , thank you!). America's loudest lounge singer Richard Cheese and his Lounge Against The Machine swing band present the perfect mix of music, martini, and madcap. With his swanky jazz trio, his tiger-striped tuxedo, and his enormous microphone, Cheese sings lounge-style covers of rock/rap hits, turning everyone's favorite songs into traditional pop vocal standards. Just imagine Sinatra singing a Radiohead song, and you've got Dick. The finger-snapping, liquor-lapping, night-capping crooner first stepped into the spotlight in 2000 with his LOUNGE AGAINST ...

We're recovering here from a weekend in Cincinnati. For the past several years, my wife & kids, my brothers and their families, and my father & stepmother gather to watch baseball games between the hometown Reds and my beloved Chicago Cubs. We didn't get a chance to drive or walk down Ruth Lyons Lane downtown but maybe next road trip. Ruth Lyons was (and still is) an institution in Cincinnati. She had a four decade career in broadcasting, first in radio, then television and "accidentally" invented the daytime TV talk show. An estimated 7 million viewers in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia tuned in (including some who credited her as an influence - Phil Donahue, Jane Pauley, and David Letterman). Back in 1939, a visit to Children's Hospital left her depressed over the thought of young children being hospitalized over Christmas. The Ruth Lyons Children's Christmas Fund has raised more than $21 million over the past six decades. Insu...